In the front end of a back-to-back at home and their first game of the season against the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Monsters were shutout, 4-0, in front of more than 9,000 fans Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena. With the loss, the Monsters drop to 7-12-0-2 while the Bulldogs improve to 12-6-1-3. The Bulldogs opened the scoring midway through the first period, when Ben Maxwell netted the eventual game winner on the power play at the 10:27 mark of the first. Cradling the puck at the top of the circle to goaltender Tyler Weiman's left, Maxwell wired a wrist shot to the top corner of the net past Weiman's blocker. Brock Trotter and Andre Benoit recorded assists on the goal.
Five minutes later, Frederic St. Denis recorded his first goal of the year to push the Hamilton lead to two. After Weiman stopped an initial shot, St. Denis flipped the puck past the blocker of the sprawled out Monsters goalie. P.K. Subban and Eric Neilson recorded the assists.
Heading into the middle frame up 2-0, the Bulldogs added to the lead just 22 seconds in, when Mathieu Carle notched his fourth goal of the year. Just as the Monsters killed off a penalty, Carle fired a wrist shot past Weiman's glove. Trotter and Grant Stevenson recorded the assists.
With less than four minutes remaining in the second, Mike Glumac recorded his fifth goal of the year to put the Bulldogs up, 4-0. After Weiman made an acrobatic post-to-post save on a wraparound attempt by Ryan Murphy, the puck laid in the crease, and Glumac, with no Monsters defenders around him, popped the rebound over the helpless goalie. Carle recorded the second assist on the goal.
In the third period, Cedrick Desjardins came into the game in relief of Curtis Sanford, making eight saves. In 40 minutes played, Sanford made 16 saves. Weiman turned away all seven shots in the third and made 24 saves on 28 shots on the night.
"Things have not gone well for us; it's just been a tough time," said Monsters head coach David Quinn. "I feel like I did when we were 1-4 at the beginning of the season. But I am glad we are playing tomorrow at 1:00. We get a chance to come out here and start all over again, and that's what we have to do."
The Monsters will have their shot at redemption soon, as the team plays the Bulldogs again Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at The Q.
Tickets are available and can be purchased by calling (216) 420-0000, by visiting LakeErieMonsters.com or by visiting any Northern Ohio Discount Drug Mart.
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